Starcloud, an Nvidia-backed orbital data center startup, said it will begin mining Bitcoin from space later this year when its second spacecraft launches, marking the first time it will mine Bitcoin from Earth.
Starcloud “will be the first to mine Bitcoin in space,” the startup’s CEO Philip Johnston revealed to X on Saturday after revealing his ambitions to mine Bitcoin in space in an interview with HyperChange on Thursday.
In an interview, Johnston said that running ASIC miners for a specific Bitcoin application would be “one of the most interesting cases” for space computing because it is much cheaper than GPUs.
“GPUs are about 30 times more expensive per kilowatt or per watt than ASICs,” Johnston said. “A 1 kilowatt B200 chip, it might cost $30,000. A 1 kilowatt ASIC is like $1,000.”
Clip about Bitcoin mining pic.twitter.com/WXlp1BMya1
— Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston) March 8, 2026
In X’s message, Johnston said that mining Bitcoin in space will become a “huge industry” because of how much more economical it is than mining the cryptocurrency on Earth.
“Bitcoin mining consumes about 20 GW of electricity continuously. It doesn’t make sense on Earth, and after all, it’s all done in space.”
Starcloud was founded in early 2024 with the goal of building data centers in space as a solution to the growing energy needs of AI. In November, it launched a satellite powered by the NVIDIA H100, the first powerful GPU in space.
Its data centers, which include approximately 88,000 satellites, are primarily powered by solar energy.
Sending Bitcoin to Mars
While Johnston’s Starcloud envisions Bitcoin mining in space, tech entrepreneurs Jose E. Puente and Carlos Puente found a solution last year to send it on the planets.
In September, Puente told Cointelegraph that it is theoretically possible to send bitcoin to Mars using NASA’s optical link, or Starlink, and a new interplanetary time-stamping system within three minutes.
While someone has to be there to receive it, a Bitcoin transaction travels through space stations – such as antennas and satellites – or even relays around the Moon before reaching Mars.
But they said that Bitcoin mining on Mars would be impossible due to the delay between the two planets.
related to: Bitcoin falls 2% as oil prices rise on fears of energy shortages
The profitability of Bitcoin mining has been shrinking over the past few months, especially as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen nearly 48% from $126,080 on October 6.
However, Bitcoin mining difficulty fell 7% from November’s record 155.9 trillion units to 145 trillion units, giving miners some much-needed breathing room for now.
Magazine: The Debate About Bitcoin’s Four-Year Cycle Is Over: Benjamin Cowen
